Australian Overseas Surrogacy Births Hit Record High Again in 2026 — Here’s Where Families Are Going

Another record year for overseas surrogacy births

For every child born through surrogacy in Australia, five are born overseas. Despite laws allowing altruistic surrogacy, the shortage of available surrogates within Australia has meant that the norm is to undertake surrogacy overseas, and the exception is to do so at home.

A record 416 Australian children were born overseas via surrogacy last year, according to figures released by the Department of Home Affairs. This is a jump of 10% over the previous year, and is the third year in a row that a record number of children have been born via surrogacy overseas.

Australia is unique in collating overseas surrogacy births. When children apply for Australian citizenship by descent, their parents must answer whether or not the child was born via surrogacy. If the answer given is no, the Department of Home Affairs chases down those parents where Departmental officers suspect that the parents engaged in surrogacy. The Department is rightly concerned to ensure that children are not trafficked.

In the year ended 30 June 2026, 416 children applied for Australian citizenship by descent, when they were born via surrogacy. For the 2025 year, the number was 377, and for the 2024 year, the number was 376- all records.

These numbers compare to the number of children born domestically through surrogacy. In the most recent reported year, the 2024 calendar year, 83 children were born through domestic gestational surrogacy arrangements, according to the numbers published by the Australian and New Zealand Assisted Reproductive Database (ANZARD).

Just like last year, there are more Aussie kids being born in the United States (125), the most expensive place to do surrogacy, than at home (83).

“These numbers demonstrate, yet again, that laws that criminalise overseas commercial surrogacy for residents of the ACT, NSW and Queensland don’t deter. No one has been prosecuted under these laws for undertaking overseas surrogacy. New Zealand researchers accurately called these laws a “failed experiment”. The existence of these laws, as two prominent judges said over a decade ago, make a mockery of the law, and they ought to be repealed. We are still waiting for that to happen,” said our legal director and dad through domestic surrogacy, Stephen Page.

He said, “Hopefully the recent change in Western Australia to end discrimination, and the updating of the law there next year, and  the just completed Australian Law Reform Commission surrogacy review lead to lasting change, so that in the future most Australian children who are born through surrogacy are born at home, not abroad.”

Top 15 surrogacy destinations for Australians, 2026

What do the numbers tell us?

There remains record demand for overseas surrogacy.

Despite the enormous cost, in the order of A$360,000 or more to undertake surrogacy there, the United States remains the most popular surrogacy destination.

Demand has continued in the three Latin countries of Argentina, Colombia and Mexico. Demand has almost doubled in Colombia. Though after its surrogacy crisis in 2024, it is likely that there will be a big fall in surrogacy births for Australians in Argentina.

After a large dip in the number of Australian surrogacy births in Georgia in 2025, probably related to moves there in 2024 (since shelved) to prohibit foreigners accessing surrogacy there, there has been an increase in surrogacy there by Australians.

There has been a tripling of the number of surrogacy births to China to 15, which is an unprecedented number, despite it being illegal for doctors in China to engage in surrogacy.

Ukraine has remained steady in the last year. This matches anecdotal reports that Ukrainian surrogacy agencies have been generous in their packages for Australians, and have continued to say that they are open for business.

Canada has remained steady.

Iran, the United Kingdom, and Thailand have remained reasonably steady, despite evident risks in Iran and Thailand.

There has been a record number of children born via surrogacy in Cyprus. In next door Greece, despite limitations on foreigners undertaking surrogacy there, there was a slight increase in surrogacy by Australians.

New countries

Australian children have been born in Armenia (less than 5), which is a new surrogacy destination.